AI is helping cut the carbon footprint of online shopping returns

Online retailers are making efforts to reduce emissions from online sales, but “reverse logistics” – the process of managing returned goods – has been largely overlooked, leading to significant environmental impact.

AI can play a crucial role in addressing the challenges of reverse logistics, such as processing customer feedback to reduce the practice of buying and returning multiple items and optimizing transportation and sorting of returned goods through image processing.

Retailers are utilizing AI-driven software to aggregate returns, minimize transportation space, and improve the sorting process in warehouses, ultimately reducing environmental impact and increasing the chances of reselling returned items.